CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Fall 4-2 to Salem But Team's Hitless, Scoreless Streaks Snapped

Published on June 28, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Salem, VA - Wilmington's hitless streak finally came to an end Saturday night during a 4-2 Blue Rocks loss to the Salem Red Sox at Salem Memorial Ballpark. With two outs in the top of the second inning, Daniel Rockett poked a single to right, snapping a stretch 22.1 consecutive innings without a Blue Rocks base hit. The defeat dropped the Rocks to 37-41 overall and 4-6 in the second half.

Jantzen Witte gave the Red Sox a 2-0 first-inning lead when he ripped a two-run homer to left off of Jonathan Dziedzic. Reed Gragnani then singled with one out in the frame and advanced to second on an error by Blue Rocks left fielder Terrance Gore. With Gragnani standing on second, Witte worked the count full before leaving the yard to give Salem the early lead.

The Red Sox extended their lead to 4-0 with single tallies in the second and the fifth. Dziedzic hit Aneury Tavarez to lead off the second. Tavarez went from first to third on a single by Ryan Dent and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Vinicio. In the fifth inning, Gragnani plated Mike Miller with an RBI double to left. Miller reached on a fielder's choice grounder, which forced out Vinicio at second base for the second out of the frame.

The Blue Rocks scored twice in the top of the sixth, their first runs in 18.1 innings, to draw within 4-2. Bubba Starling singled to lead off the frame and moved to third on a double to left by Jared Schlehuber. Starling scored when Dent, the left fielder, had trouble getting the ball out of the corner. Schlehuber advanced third on a groundout by Zane Evans and scored on a groundout by Cam Gallagher.

Justin Haley (6-3, 2.58) picked up his sixth win of the season for the Red Sox with six solid frames on the mound. He yielded two runs on five hits and struck out five. Dziedzic (5-5, 3.00) took the loss for the Blue Rocks and gave up four runs on six hits over five innings. Kyle Martin earned his fifth save of the campaign for Salem with three shutout innings in relief of Haley.

The Blue Rocks return to action Sunday night at Salem Memorial Stadium for game two of three against the Red Sox. Wilmington will send righty Christian Binford (5-3, 2.35) to the mound while Salem will counter with fellow right-hander Pat Light (1-4, 7.01) First pitch is slated for 4:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks will be back at Frawley Stadium on Tuesday night for the first game of a brief three-game homestand against the Potomac Nationals. For tickets, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Wilmington's hitless streak was finally snapped at 22.1 innings Saturday night in Salem. Prior to Daniel Rockett's two-out single in the second inning Saturday, the Blue Rocks' most recent base hit had been Michael Antonio's one-out double in the seventh inning of Wednesday's series opener against the Lynchburg Hillcats. The Hillcats no-hit the Blue Crew in back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday, the first time in franchise history Wilmington had been no-hit in consecutive contests. According to Brad Myers of The News Journal, no team had accomplished this at any professional level since August 5-6, 1972, when Quebec held Pawtucket hitless in back-to-back games. MiLB.com's Danny Wild reported that, prior to this week, no team had ever accomplished the feat in the Carolina League. However, on May 15, 1966, Rocky Mount did no-hit Greensboro in both ends of a doubleheader. Each of those games was a seven-inning affair. The Blue Rocks had never been held hitless twice in the same season before, either. Lucas Sims and Alex Wilson split the load for Lynchburg on Thursday while Cody Scarpetta and Benino Pruneda shared Friday's feat. In each contest, the starter hurled seven frames and the reliever threw two.

When Bubba Starling scored in the sixth inning Saturday night, he helped snap the Blue Rocks' 18.1-inning scoreless streak, which was a season high. The Blue Rocks' most recent run had been a single tally in the fifth inning of the first Lynchburg no-hitter on Thursday. Jack Lopez drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Daniel Rockett then reached on an error by shortstop Daniel Castro. The miscue also allowed Lopez to advance to third. Terrance Gore's RBI fielder's choice plated Lopez. The team's previous season high of 14.1 straight frames without a tally was established over a three-game stretch between April 12 and April 14 against the Winston-Salem Dash. Wilmington did not score in the final frame of its 4-0 win over the Dash on April 12. Winston-Salem then shut the Rocks out, 1-0, on April 13, bringing the total to 10 straight innings without a run. On April 14, the Blue Crew broke a scoreless tie 4.1 frames into the contest. They won that game 3-1. Despite being held scoreless for 14.1 innings across those three days, the Rocks actually won two of those three games - and three of four during that series against the Dash.

Aroni Nina and Daniel Stumpf combined to throw three perfect innings in relief of starter Jonathan Dziedzic on Saturday. Nina turned in perhaps his best outing of the season. The right-hander struck out four over his two innings of work and did not walk a batter. He is 2-0 this season with a 5.34 ERA in 13 games. Nina has struck out 29 and walked 23 in 26.2 innings pitched this year. Stumpf turned in his third consecutive outing without allowing a run. In three games between June 6 and June 19, the southpaw yielded nine runs, all of them earned, on nine hits over 3.1 innings. In three appearances since then, his only blemish is a base on balls he issued on June 22. Stumpf has posted a 2-7 record and 4.76 ERA in 17 games (eight starts). He has punched out 54 and issued just 13 free passes in 51 innings. As a whole, the Blue Crew 'pen has been one of the team's strengths this season. Wilmington's relievers have posted a combined 16-11 record and 3.02 ERA in 265.1 innings pitched. They have struck out 245 and issued just 87 free passes.

Wilmington Blue Rocks pitcher Christian Binford was named to the U.S. roster for the 15th annual All-Star Futures Game, which will kick off the MLB All-Star festivities in Minnesota on Sunday, July 14. Binford is the lone representative from the Blue Rocks and the Kansas City Royals system, and will take his place among the game's most prominent prospects in the showcase event of the season for Minor League Baseball. Binford has put together a dominant season with Wilmington. The 21-year-old is 5-3 with a 2.35 ERA in 13 Advanced-A starts this year. He ranks top-five in the Carolina League in ERA, WHIP (1.02), strikeouts per nine innings pitched (9.98) and fewest baserunners per nine innings pitched (9.39). He was named a C.L. All-Star earlier in the month and has been named the eight-team league's Pitcher of the Week three times.

THEY SAID IT

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"That was a tough streak to go through right there. I think it really took a lot out of the kids the last couple of nights. Then we start out tonight and we get [through] the first [inning] and still no hits. You could tell it was weighing on them. Then we finally got the hit and they kind of relaxed. Overall, I thought we swung the bats okay today. [It was a] pretty good ballgame, just [Jonathan] Dziedzic wasn't as sharp tonight. It's kind of like starting all over. We've just got to build from today and move on."

"It was a big burden off their shoulders [to get that first hit], no doubt. The funny thing is, out of all of this, in the second half we're only 4-6. After everything we went through, it's still early enough in the half we can turn thing around, no doubt."

"[Aroni] Nina came in aggressive with the fastball and was able to locate. And then he had the good curveball going today. That really locked him up. [Daniel Stumpf] came in there. [He's] had his troubles, but looked very good today. [He was] down in the zone consistently and showed something good. It's good to get those guys back going. The bullpen has kind of been beaten up here lately. It was nice to see those two guys come in [and do well]."

Starting Pitcher Jonathan Dziedzic:

"The first batter, I started out pretty good. I felt like I had a pretty good feel and then I was just kind of battling tonight with command of the off-speed [stuff]. I thought the fastball was okay. Overall, I was really battling to get through five innings. At the same time, I didn't think it was great but it wasn't awful either. You're going to have some of those games. It's just baseball. You've got to battle through some of the tough ones and move forward."

"I was talking to Steve Luebber in between innings [after the early struggles]. He was just kind of talking about a few things. Just pitch selection and really finishing my pitches. At the beginning of the game, I might have been cutting a few off. I was just trying to work down more and mix up my pitches more. It resulted in a couple of quick innings."

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Carolina League Stories from June 28, 2014


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